Plan, create, and configure production-ready Azure Kubernetes Service (AKS) clusters. Covers Day-0 checklist, SKU selection (Automatic vs Standard), networking options (private API server, Azure CNI Overlay, egress configuration), security, and operations (autoscaling, upgrade strategy, cost analysis). WHEN: create AKS environment, provision AKS, enable AKS observability, design AKS networking, choose AKS SKU, secure AKS, optimize AKS, AKS spot nodes, AKS cluster-autoscaler, rightsize AKS pod, pod rightsizing, over-provisioned AKS pod, pod resource requests and limits, Vertical Pod Autoscaler, VPA recommendations.
Plan, create, and configure production-ready Azure Kubernetes Service (AKS) clusters. Covers Day-0 checklist, SKU selection (Automatic vs Standard), networking options (private API server, Azure CNI Overlay, egress configuration), security, and operations (autoscaling, upgrade strategy, cost analysis). WHEN: create AKS environment, provision AKS, enable AKS observability, design AKS networking, choose AKS SKU, secure AKS, optimize AKS, AKS spot nodes, AKS cluster-autoscaler, rightsize AKS pod, pod rightsizing, over-provisioned AKS pod, pod resource requests and limits, Vertical Pod Autoscaler, VPA recommendations.
Azure Kubernetes Service
AUTHORITATIVE GUIDANCE — MANDATORY COMPLIANCE
This skill produces a recommended AKS cluster configuration based on user requirements, distinguishing Day-0 decisions (networking, API server — hard to change later) from Day-1 features (can enable post-creation). See CLI reference for commands.
Quick Reference
Property
Value
Best for
AKS cluster planning and Day-0 decisions
MCP Tools
mcp_azure_mcp_aks
CLI
az aks create, az aks show, kubectl get, kubectl describe
Related skills
azure-diagnostics (troubleshooting AKS), azure-validate (readiness checks), azure-kubernetes-automatic-readiness (migrate existing cluster to AKS Automatic)
When to Use This Skill
Activate this skill when user wants to:
Create a new AKS cluster
Plan AKS cluster configuration for production workloads
Design AKS networking (API server access, pod IP model, egress)
Set up AKS identity and secrets management
Configure AKS governance (Azure Policy, Deployment Safeguards)
Enable AKS observability (Container Insights, Managed Prometheus, Grafana)
Define AKS upgrade and patching strategy
Understand AKS Automatic vs Standard SKU differences
Get a Day-0 checklist for AKS cluster setup and configuration
Rules
Start with the user's requirements for provisioning compute, networking, security, and other settings.
Use the azure MCP server and select mcp_azure_mcp_aks first to discover the exact AKS-specific MCP tools surfaced by the client. Choose the smallest discovered AKS tool that fits the task, and fall back to Azure CLI (az aks) only when the needed functionality is not exposed through the AKS MCP surface.
Determine if AKS Automatic or Standard SKU is more appropriate based on the user's need for control vs convenience. Default to AKS Automatic unless specific customizations are required.
Document decisions and rationale for cluster configuration choices, especially for Day-0 decisions that are hard to change later (networking, API server access).
Required Inputs (Ask only what’s needed)
If the user is unsure, use safe defaults.
AKS environment type: dev/test or production
Region(s), availability zones, preferred node VM sizes
Networking requirements (API server access, pod IP model, ingress/egress control)
Security and identity requirements, including image registry
Upgrade and observability preferences
Cost constraints
Workflow
1. Cluster Type
AKS Automatic (default): Best for most production workloads, provides a curated experience with pre-configured best practices for security, reliability, and performance. Use unless you have specific custom requirements for networking, autoscaling, or node pool configurations not supported by Node Auto-Provisioning (NAP).
AKS Standard: Use if you need full control over environment configuration, which requires additional overhead to set up and manage.
Isolation: Use namespaces, network policies, scoped logging
4. Observability
Use Managed Prometheus and Container Insights with Grafana for AKS observability (logs + metrics).
Enable Diagnostic Settings to collect control plane logs and audit logs in a Log Analytics workspace for security monitoring and troubleshooting.
For other monitoring and troubleshooting tools, use features like the Agentic CLI for AKS, Application Insights, Resource Health Center, AppLens detectors, and Azure Advisors.
5. Upgrades & Patching
Configure Maintenance Windows for controlled upgrade timing
Enable auto-upgrades for control plane and node OS to stay up-to-date with security patches and Kubernetes versions
Consider LTS versions for enterprise stability (2-year support) by upgrading your AKS environment to the Premium tier
Fleet upgrades: Use AKS Fleet Manager for staged rollout across test to production environments
6. Performance
Use Ephemeral OS disks (--node-osdisk-type Ephemeral) for faster node startup
Select Azure Linux as node OS (smaller footprint, faster boot)
Enable KEDA for event-driven autoscaling beyond HPA
7. Node Pools & Compute
Dedicated system node pool: At least 2 nodes, tainted for system workloads only (CriticalAddonsOnly)
Enable Node Auto Provisioning (NAP) on all pools for cost savings and responsive scaling
Use latest generation SKUs (v5/v6) for host-level optimizations
Avoid B-series VMs — burstable SKUs cause performance/reliability issues
Use SKUs with at least 4 vCPUs for production workloads
Set topology spread constraints to distribute pods across hosts/zones per SLO
8. Reliability
Deploy across 3 Availability Zones (--zones 1 2 3)
Use Standard tier for zone-redundant control plane + 99.95% SLA for API server availability
Enable Microsoft Defender for Containers for runtime protection
Configure PodDisruptionBudgets for all production workloads
Use topology spread constraints to ensure pod distribution across failure domains
9. Cost Controls
Use Spot node pools for batch/interruptible workloads (up to 90% savings)
Stop/Start dev/test clusters: az aks stop/start
Consider Reserved Instances or Savings Plans for steady-state workloads
Deep-dive scenarios — load only the relevant reference file:
Scenario
Trigger Keywords
Reference
Pod Rightsizing
over-provisioned pods, CPU requests, memory requests, rightsize workloads
Disambiguation: If a prompt matches multiple rows (e.g., "cheaper nodes" could suggest both Spot and autoscaler), prefer the most specific match. If ambiguous, ask the user to clarify their intent before loading a reference file.
Guardrails / Safety
Do not request or output secrets (tokens, keys).
Do not ask the user to paste subscription IDs. Discover subscription and resource scope via MCP tools (e.g., list subscriptions, list resource groups) or az account show / az account list so the agent can resolve context without exposing identifiers.
If requirements are ambiguous for day-0 critical decisions, ask the user clarifying questions. For day-1 enabled features, propose 2–3 safe options with tradeoffs and choose a conservative default.
Do not promise zero downtime; advise workload safeguards (PDBs, probes, replicas) and staged upgrades along with best practices for reliability and performance.
MCP Tools
Tool
Purpose
Key Parameters
mcp_azure_mcp_aks
AKS MCP entry point used to discover the exact AKS-specific tools exposed by the client
Discover the callable AKS tool first, then use that tool's parameters
Error Handling
Error / Symptom
Likely Cause
Remediation
MCP tool call fails or times out
Invalid credentials, subscription, or AKS context
Verify az login, confirm the active subscription context with az account show, and check the target resource group without echoing subscription identifiers back to the user
Quota exceeded
Regional vCPU or resource limits
Request quota increase or select different region/VM SKU
Networking conflict (IP exhaustion)
Pod subnet too small for overlay/CNI
Re-plan IP ranges; may require cluster recreation (Day-0)
